Gas-producer control.



B, E. ELfDRED. GAS PRODUCER CONTROL.

LED APR.15, 1905. RENEWED MAY 23, 1908.

Patented Jan. 5, 1909.

7 section, an apparatus embodying stack or furnace into the producer.

SATS PATENT Enron.

nrnou n, ni nr nn, oruswvonx'u. Y., 'AssIcron TO CumnUSTION UTILITIES COMPANY,

Y or new YORK, N. ,Y., A CORPURATION on new roux.

GAS-PRODUCER CONTROL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, isoe.

Applicitlllhn am April 15, 1905, Serial No. 255,663. Renewed. May 22, 1902. Serial No. 434,542.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Brno E. ELDnni), a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New fork, have invented certainnew' and useful Improvements in Gas- Producer Control, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for zmanufactnring producer gas in which carbon dioxid is used as the endothermic or cooling agent. I

The invention relates specifically to means for the regulation and control of the gas current supplied to the producer.

In the operation of a gas producer by means of carbon ,dioxid a fan blower or exhauster is found convenient means for propelling the gaseous products, of combustion from a It occasionally happens that on stoppage of the fan the conduit extending from the fan to the stack isnot properly closed, whereupon a back pressure is exerted, due to the draft of the stack, and combustible gas may be drawn overinto the stack or furnace and give rise to explosions therein or in the conduits or connecting flues. Such explosions are often destructive to the apparatus and means for their prevention are at the present time of great importance for the reason that products of combustion are coming into extensive use in the operation of gas producers.

The object of my invention is to-prevent automatically the drawing over of combustiblegas into the stack or furnace, and-t0 prevent the explosions consequent thereupon.

I will now proceed to-describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically and partly in elevation, and partly in vertical 4 my invention, co mpr1smg a gas rodueer, a furnace stack, and means for rawing products of combustion from such stack and conducting the same to the producer, comprising automatic meansfor preventing back flow of the combustible gas intothe stack. Figs. 2 to 7 inclusive, are detail views, Figs. 2 and 3 showing respectively in vertical section and in plan. the form of the automatic valve illustrated in Fig. 1, Figs. 4 and 5 show respec tively in vertical section and in plan, an alternativeiorm of said valvaandFigafi 7 show respectively in vertical section and in plan, a further alternative form of the said valve.

Referring now at first to Fig. l, numeral 1 therein designates a gas producer having the feed apertures or hoppers 2, and a gas delivery or discharge pipe 3 in its upper part. The producer is shown equipped with the water seal 4 for the removal of the ash in a finely divided and friable condition. in the lower part of the gas producer is placed a blast baffle 5 against which the blast dc livered through the twyer pipe 6 is allowed to impinge and be dispersed throughout the gas generating mass-of fuel. 7 is a stack having at its base the flue 8 connecting with a source of products of combustion, as for instance a reverberatory furnace, billet furnace or the like, or with a source of products of combustion and calcination, as for instance a lime or cement kiln. The products of combustion are carried through the conduit 10 tothe gas producer 1, being impelled in this direction by the fan blower 11 interposed in said conduit. 0n the inlet side of the fan is placed an air opening 12 which regulated by means of the adjustable valve or damper 13. A similar valve 14 is placed in the conduit 10. By adjusting these valves to the proper width of opening the proportion of carbon dioxid and oxygen in the last mixture supplied to the producer may be regulated. The gases in the stack vary from time to time and. consequently frequent adjustment of the above mentioned valves is desirable. On the inlet side of the fan there is also placed in the conduit 10 an automatic gate 15 which is open while the fan is in oper ption and which closes upon stoppage of the By reference to Fig. 2 which shows a section of this apparatus and to Fig. 3 which shows a plan of the apparatus the details of construction may be more readily seen. In Fig. 2, 16 is a damper hinged in its upper part.

so that it may be swung upwardly into the arm 20 is fastened at 22 as shown in Fig. 3 to the air damper or valve 23-. In operation, the fan having been started, aJgas currentis impelled .m the direction Indicated by the arand covering the air inlet 24. The suction on the air opening 24 holds valve 23 over said opening and is sufficient to hold the damper 16 m a horizontal position in the recess 18.

On stopglage of the fan the suction or pres sure on t e air openin 24 is relieved and the valve or damper 16 ops back into a vertical position thereby closing the main passage and opening the air inlet. The gas from the producer is therefore prevented from working backward into the stack or furnace and the entrance of the'air through the opening 21 prevents any suction from the chimney exertin its influence in the gas producer.

It is not or aril y possible to make the joint around the damper 16 so tight that no gas will be drawn past this damper into-the stack on stoppage of the fan. The air opening 24 when the suction operated valve 23 is opened allows of the admission of air and in as much as the gas flow will be along the path of least resistance any leakage through orpast thee damper 1 6 will be merely that of the air entering at 24 and'not combustible gas from the roducer.

F1gs. 4 and 5 show another form of ap aratuswhich is of simpler construction ut which does not damper or close the" ipe to prevent the back flow of gas, but epends simply upon admitting air to relieve the back pressure. In said drawing 25 is a disk closmg an opening in themain conduit. This disk is supported by. therod' 26 sliding in the bearing 27, which is secured to asupport 28. This apparatus is placed on the exhaust side of the fan and the disk 25 is held in place by the'blast pressure. On stoppage of the fan the pressure will be so greatly reduced that the disk 25 moves downward allowing air to enter the conduit. The draft from the chimney will thereupon draw air in at this point rather than draw back combustible gas from the gas producer a ainst a greater resistance.

Flgs. 6 and 7 s ow a-form' of apparatus similar to that illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. 16 is the damper shown han in a vertical position, 17 is the recess in t e. lower art of the conduit adapted to receive and ho d in position the damper as it swings downwardly lnto lace. 18 is a recess 20a slotted ,rod attac ed at 33150 the balanced valve or dam per 34. The operation of this apparatus is I have-found that when carbon dioxid is used in gas producers, it is desirable to have some means for indicating the temperature of the producer gas as it leaves the producer.

Heretofore most gas producers have used steam, and such roducers require a high temperature in or er that the, water gas reaction may take pressure satisfactorily. In the case of the use of carbon dioxid, the decomposition resulting in the production of soaasa combustible gas, takesplace at a lower temperature, consequently ltis desirable to run a carbon dioxid controlled gas producer on a lower temperature plane than that customarily in the operation of the gas producers employing steam. The gas producer operators, however, accustomed as they are to the operation of steam-using gas producers at a relatively high temperature plane, refuse to run the gas producer operated by carbon dioxfid at the lower temperature needful for the economical practice of this method. Accordingly, I place in the delivery pipe 3 of the gas producer a device for indicating the temperature of the departing gas. This apparatus is shown at 35. It may be a thermostat consisting of two metal plates having I differentco-eflicients of expansion. The

aforesaid metal plates are riveted and fastened at one end to a sup ort so that by changing the temperature the stra so produced'is caused to buckle or bin thereby making electrical contact and operating a galvanometer or ringing an electric bell. As

shown in the drawing a thermo-electric couple is placed in the socket 35 and this actuates a galvanometer 37, the needle of which is arranged to close a second circuit, thereby sounding the electric bell shown at 38. o A battery 39 is placed in this circuit. The

pressure of the gas coming from'the producer 1s subject to variation from time to tlme, due to the demands of the furnace in which the gas is burned.

To indicate the pressure ofthe outgoing gas, apparatus of the following description may be used. 41 is an inverted rece tacle working in an upright receptacle fille with water or other liquid after the fashion of a spirometer or gasometer. A pipe 43 communicates with the u right rece tacle from the delivery ipe of t e gas pro ucer 3. A rod attached to the upper receptacle 41 makes contact on the'resistance board 44 at certain points, thereby causing the ammeter 45 to register according to the stre th of the current. of the vessel 41 an this vessel moves upward or downward depending on the pressure of the combustible gas.

What I claim 'is,

1. The combination with agas producer and means comprising a conduit for supplying products of combustion or equivaleht gas thereto, and draft producing means, producing a flow of gas through such conduit, of an automatically opening valve normally clos- This is dependent upon t e height ing an openlng in such conduit, but opening mg a flow of gas t rough such conduit, of a suction closed valve normally closing an opening on the suction side of said draft pro ducing meansv 3. The combination with a gas producer and means comprising a conduit for supplying products of combustion or equivalent gas thereto, and draft producin means, producing a How of gas through such conduit, of automatic valve mechanism comprising a valve for closing said conduit, said valve normally open, and automatic means causing said valve to close when said draft producing means ceases to operate.

4. The combination with a gas producer and means comprising-a conduit for supply ing products of combustiorror equivalent gas thereto, and draft producing means, producing a flow of gas through such conduit, of antomatic valve mechanism comprising a valve for closing said conduit, said valve normally open, another valve normally closing an openingin said conduit on the suction side of said draft producing means, and-means connecting said valves.

5. The combination with a gas producer and means comprising a conduit for supplying products of combustion or equivalent gas thereto, and draft-producing means, produc in afiow of gas through such conduit, of vadve mechanism for preventing back fiow of gas through such conduit, comprising the connected valves, one adapted to close such conduit, the other to close an opening in the conduit, said latter valve normally held closed by suction and when so closed holding open the other valve.

6. The combination with a gas producer, a furnace flue and a conduit connecting said flue with the inlet side of the gas producer, of draft producing means and an automatically opening valve normally closing an opening in such conduit but opening automatically when said draft producing means ceases to operate.

7. The combination with a gas producer, a

&

furnace flue and a conduit connecting said flue with the inlet side of the gas producer, of draft producing means and an automatic valve mechanism comprising a valve for closing said conduit, said valve normally open, and automatic means causing said valve to close when. said draft producing means ceaSes to operatr 8. The mbination with a gas producer, a furnace e and a conduit connecting said flue with the inlet side of the gas producer, of draft producing means and an automatic valve mechan ism comprising a valve for closing said conduit, said valve normally :open another valve normally closiugan opening in said conduit on the suction side of said draft producing means, and means connecting said valves.

9. The combination with a gas producer, a J

furnace flue and a conduit connecting said flue with the inlet side of the gas producer, of draft producing means and a valve mechanism for preventing back flow of gas through such conduit, comprising the connected valves one adapted to close such conduit, the other to close an opening in the conduit, said latter valve normally held closed by suction and when so closed holding open the other valve.

10. The combination with a gas producer, a-fuel burning device constituting a source of supply of carbon dioxid and aconduit connecting said source with the draft inlet of the producer, of valve means operable to close the conduit against said source of supply and also simultaneously to open the conduit to the atmosphere between the closure and the producer. Signed at New York city, in

New York, and State of New York, this12th day of April, A. D. 1905.

' BYRON E. ELDR'ED;

Witnesses:

JAS. K. CLARK, A. M. SENIOR.

the county of 

